Volume 10 Issue 7 - July 1995 The Church 's Role and Responsibility "And Cain talked with Abel his brother. and it came to pass, when they were in the field field, that Cain rose up Against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground " Am I my brothers keeper? Since the day Cain uttered that question to the Lord, it has served to convict and haunt God's people through the centuries. Particularly, when the church has found herself swept up in times of great injustice and tyranny, where fear, lies, cruelty, and barbarism ruled the day. In the midst of those difficult times that tries the hearts of men, there were always great theological wars concerning what exactly the church's role should be in its responsibility towards the voiceless, helpless, and defenseless. Debates raged over how the church should respond when a strong oppressor rises up that targets the poor, needy, and weak for destruction. Sooner or later, in those turbulent conditions Christians had to grapple with that burning question once again, "Am I my brother's keeper?" In studying church history, it is obvious that there are many bright examples of those who would answer "yes" and serve as an excellent model of Christian heroism in the face of dark oppression, godly men and women who sacrificed all to save the lives of others. The corporate Church on the other hand has not always responded in the affirmative when confronted with that probing question made by the one who first shed innocent blood on planet earth. One would have hoped, that regardless of the perilous conditions, the Church, as a whole, would have mustered the courage to follow the example set forth by her Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, and would have intervened to protect. Unfortunately, that was not always the case. Some church leaders hid behind unjust laws, political expediency, and social pressures to help justify their cowardice that allowed the slaughter of men, women, and children to go on unabated. They believed contrary to the truth, that they were not their brother's keeper and were therefore not responsible to alleviate the plight of victims who were being crushed by injustice and tyranny. Some, not all, compromised the truth, and made accommodative deals with the oppressors in order to maintain their position, property, political ties, and social standing within their communities. Some blatantly supported atrocities, like the Church in Nazi Germany that was blinded by religious nationalism, while most simply tolerated the oppression and gave silent consent. In other words, they understood the evil and the grave implications that accompanied it, but like most of us, found it much easier to appease than to confront. By choosing not to be involved, the pathway of least resistance, they failed to raise God's standard, and unwittingly prolonged the suffering, the injustice, and the deaths of countless souls for whom Christ died and shed His precious blood to redeem. Besides the American holocaust today, the German holocaust serves as a recent reminder of the church's failure to love our neighbor as ourselves, to be our brother's keeper, and to rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death. The following is a quote by Hitler concerning his assessment of the German Church and its leadership,
What a scathing summary by a demonic madman concerning the Church in his nation. Unfortunately, in most cases, he was absolutely correct in his assessment. Obviously, the question that begs to be asked today is, "How will God and history judge us, the American Church, as it relates to the American holocaust and the plight of the unborn?" Dying To Self "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. " (Matthew 16:24) When you are forgotten, neglected, or purposely set at naught and you didn't hurt with insult at the oversight ... that is dying to self. When your good is evil spoken of, your wishes crossed, your advice disregarded; when you refuse to let anger arise in your heart or even try to defend yourself but take it all in patient, loving silence ... that is dying to self. When you are content with any food, climate, society, or clothing and interpret it as the will of God ... that is dying to self. When you patiently bear any disorder, irregularity, or annoyance; when you stand face to face with waste, folly, and insensibility and endure as Jesus did ... that is dying to self. When you see a brother prosper and can honestly rejoice without any feeling of envy, even though as yet your needs remain unprovided for ... that is dying to self. When you aren't concerned about referring to yourself in conversation, recording your own good works or itching after commendation; when you can truly love to be unknown ... that is dying to self. When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and humbly submit both inwardly and outwardly without resentment or rebellion in your heart ... that is dying to self. Are we dead yet? Everyone desires to follow Jesus until we find out where he is going. The Holy Spirit invites us to the cross to come and die, so the life of Jesus may flow to others. Another One Bites The Dust "And he said, hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's ... Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you." (2 Chronicles 20:15,17) It seems every where we turn the victory of the Lord is manifesting and marching on. We just received word that another abortion mill turned belly up and will no longer be in the business of molesting, maiming, and destroying the Lord's little image bearers. The "Reproductive" Services clinic closed May 27, 1995 in Corpus Christi. This is just another glorious example of what is transpiring throughout our nation as the abortion industry is collapsing under the weight of it's own sin. One heart at a time, and one abortion mill at a time, the Lord is working through His people to bring this holocaust to an end. Bless His Holy Name! The Director of the mill, Rachel Vargas stated, "We have been operating at a loss for months. ... We just could not keep up financially." Rex Moses, who led Body of Christ Rescue events in 1990 and 1991, took no credit for the demise of the abortion facility. "They're not the enemy," said Moses, director of the Human life office of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi. "The enemy is a cultural disregard for the sacredness of human life, a hell-bent willingness to give in to irresponsibility," Moses said. "If there's been some small victory here, it's certainly not mine." Praise God for the faithfulness and humility that is being demonstrated by His gentle warriors who stand against this Goliath that seeks to savage this generation. Please take courage those of you that brave the heat, the cold, the scorn, the brutality, the ostracism, the imprisonment, and the vilification, God is moving by His Spirit and is honoring the sacrifices of His people. I exhort you to continue to stand in the gap and make up the hedge for the behalf of your children and for the future of our nation. Little Rock, Arkansas "Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; rid them out of the hand of the wicked. " (Psalms 82:3, 4) One of the many privileges that Flip Benham and I have serving the Lord through O. R.N. is the powerful opportunities to address entire cities with the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Little Rock was no exception. We preached on T.V. news, on secular liberal radio stations, on the streets, and in the churches. Literally, tens of thousands of people heard the message of God's great salvation, a Biblical world view concerning justice for the unborn, and the Law of God exalted as the only righteous foundation that is able to secure and support the future of our nation. We truly thank God for sending us as His ambassadors to cry out against the sins of our nation, to warn of increased sanctions from heaven, and to call for repentance from the least to the greatest, from the Church House to the White House. The is a following letter from a good faithful friend of ours in Little Rock. She sent it to encourage our hearts concerning our recent visit to her city.
One of the highlights of the event that was so awesome and at the same time quite humbling was the phone in call by Dr. Alan Keyes, a Republican Presidential Candidate for the 1996 election. He took some of his precious time from an hectic campaign schedule just to encourage the folks of Operation Rescue to keep fighting the good fight of faith. He admitted that he is energized, inspired, and living off the spiritual life and courage that is exemplified in the Rescue movement. He encouraged us to continue to put our lives on the line, so we can publicly bear witness to the truth and hopefully pierce the conscious of our nation. He shared how there are many who want him to tone down his message about abortion because they view it as divisive. Thank God, Dr. Keyes is a godly statesmen instead of a compromising politician. He simply refuses and believes what he is promoting is not divisive but rather a promotion of what unifies us instead. He stated, "the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence provide the common ground that binds us across all the lines of race, religion, and creed that indeed make us one Nation under God." He also warned of the necessity of winning this battle for life. According to Dr. Keyes, "the abortion doctrine is a freedom that is licentiousness and corruption. A willingness to trample on the rights and principles that are at the foundation of justice and a willingness to worship yourself at the expense of even the most innocent human life. " He went on to view the abortion atrocity as the greatest threat to our Republic. He called upon everyone who cared about right, who cared about justice, who respected the will of God, and cared about the future of America, to join together to shake the conscious of this country and move our nation to reject the self indulgence, convenience, ambition, and whim of the abortion culture and to restore the true integrity of God's principles that made America great. After his phone call, I told Flip and the congregation, "Either we are starting to do something wrong or God is truly beginning to change our nation. In New Orleans, the police provided an escort, topped off with a police siren salute as we departed from their city. (They used to beat us and escort us to jail.) Now, in Little Rock, a Presidential candidate calls to encourage us and to boldly let everybody know he is standing with us. (Which is more than we can say for most of the church.) Who knows, maybe the folks in O.R.N. will become the new spiritual advisors to the White House as we enter the 21 st century. Wouldn't that be the ultimate irony? (Jeremiah 15:11) City Wide Youth Chastity Rally "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, hut rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret" (Ephesians 5:11,12) Our local vision of outreach, Christ in Action, will host a city-wide youth chastity rally, Tuesday, August 8, 1995 at 7 p.m. located on the Baylor campus. The following morning we will lead the young people to the "gates of hell" at the local abortuary located at 1927 Columbus Ave. starting at 8 a.m. and concluding at 10 a.m. The vision of this event is twofold. #1) Encourage our young people to pledge fidelity to the Lord in sexual purity. #2) Exhort them to not only be personally pure, but to also receive a vision to rescue their generation from the failed social sexual agenda that has destroyed 1/3 of their generation. For more information on what you can do to participate and help, please feel free to contact me at (817) 753-3017. Let's work together to impact our youth with a Holy charge before they go back to the war zones commonly called public schools. Let's encourage them not to be ashamed to proclaim Christ, nor their virginity in the midst of a perverse and crooked generation. Jesus Is The Standard Rally "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19) Ross Perot will be hosting a Presidential Candidates Forum at the Dallas Convention Center, August 11-13, 1995. Candidates will speak on the "issues" facing our nation. We are inviting everyone, who can make it, to come and join us as we take a stand for Jesus and raise up a standard for life at this forum. We will politely yet firmly confront each candidate with the burning issue of this century - the murder of unborn children! For where one stands on this issue determines where one stands on every other issue. On Saturday, August 12th, 1995, one of the Presidential Candidates will join us at the Fairmont Abortuary located at 2921 Fairmont St. in Dallas starting at 8a.m. You guessed it, Dr. Alan Keyes has agreed to address the Church in Dallas right at a local death camp. Praise God for his godly example, commitment, and courage. Please make plans to join Christians from all over as we lift up the name of Jesus and call the Presidential Candidates to raise up a standard for life. IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE, Rusty Lee Thomas |